Wings
by Call-Me-Crazy.Cuz I Am
Summary: It's 1942, and Maxine 'Maximum Ride' Batchelder is having the time of her life as a Woman's Airforce Pilot. But soon enough, she lands in hot water and is given an ultimatum: stay out of trouble or leave. Enter Nicky 'Fang' Falloway, a reckless, broken pilot who is nothing BUT trouble. Max has always been up for a challenge, but she might have finally met her match.


**A.N. Hiya!**

**We were studying the WASPs in Social Studies and the idea of the Flock being pilots was just too good for me to not write. Plus, c'mon, Fang in an pilot's jacket would be ultra-sexy :)**

**As a note: **

**Slang from the 1940s is used; you should be able to figure out everything but these two: **

**Khaki-Wacky: Boy Crazy **

**Share-Crop: Slutty or Promiscuous girl. **

**WINGS **

**Prologue **

Maxine Batchelder shifted her weight from foot to foot as she nervously waited for her graduation instructor to appear.

"Calm down, Maximum," Angel smiled, gently squeezing her companion's shoulder. "We're almost WASPs. We'll be fine.

And maybe it was the use of her pilot codename that chilled her out, but Max took a deep breath and gave a tight smile.

**_Nicky Falloway pushes his way frantically through the evacuating crowds as the town ahead of him bursts into flames and rings with gunfire. He runs in the opposite direction of the crowd, but it does not hinder his progress; his eyes are locked on a woman standing in the square, tying coats underneath the chins of a few grubby children. _**

**"_Maya!" He yells, cupping his hands over his mouth. _**

**"_Fang?" Maya turns to face him, pushing the last child towards his waiting mother. _**

_**And as he takes a step forward, another shot rings, and she falls to the ground.** _

"Through service and pain, through good and bad, you have shown loyalty and dedication in all you've done. You have proven yourselves more than worthy of being called WASPs." General Kingsley said solemnly.

Max twirled the sash in her hands, marveling in its smoothness.

_**Fang's face twists as he runs towards Maya's prostrate body, taking her limp form in his arms. Short, layered strands of hair blow across his skin, and his heart clenches because he knows how much she would've hated any kind of disorder.** _

"We did it, dolls!" Max yelled, laughing as Ella and Angel mobbed her with hugs. "We're officially women in the Airforce!"

**_His face stony and expressionless, he lays her body on the table in front of Iggy. Iggy swallows hard, and reaches out, his hand running along her skin, skin that was already losing its pink tinge. _**

**"_Fang, I-" _**

**"_I'm out." Fang says shortly. _**

**"_Don't do this, Nicky. You can't just cancel this, not this far in. I know you're hurt, but you can't snap your cap and throw in the towel!" Iggy pleads. _**

**_Fang simply looks at him, anger and pain and regret mixing in, turning his already dark eyes black. "I said, I'm out. We're flying back to the Texas base in the morning." _**

_3 months later: _

Maximum Batchelder sat rigidly on a wooden chair in front of General John Kingsley's desk, half-listening as he reprimanded her.

"You've been flying into dangerous territory, Miss Batchelder." The general said disapprovingly, shaking his head slightly. "You know and I know that flagrant disobeying of orders, extreme disrespect towards senior officers, and severe recklessness are not tolerated in the WASPs."

"But sir-" Max started.

"No, Miss Batchelder. You've exhibited such reckless behavior, it's taken all I have to prevent your being dishonorably discharged from the WASPs and sent home with your tail between your legs."

Max fell silent.

"Here's the deal, Max." General Kingsley sighed. "I'll smooth everything over: all of your previous violations and this new one. I'll make sure Washington keeps you. But one more, put one more _toe _out of line, and I'll have you sent out of here so fast, you're head'll spin." He stared at her over his glasses. "Am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir." Max said coldly.

"Dismissed."

**O_O_O_O_O_O_O**

"Alright, dolls, we've got a delivery. Pull on your pantyhose and be in the cockpits in five." Max shoved the two mounds lying on the cots in the WASPs sleeping quarters.

"Five more seconds, cap'n." Ella moaned, curling into a tight ball.

Angel said nothing, only dragged the blanket over her head.

"You ladies sure? 'Cause the 607 unit's coming from the Tuscaloosa base, and they've never seen you before." Max smirked slightly as both Ella and Angel shot out of their respective cots and made beelines for their clothes.

Shaking her head, she walked out to the land strip, stopping in front of her favorite plane. It was a B-26, and a pain to fly, but she loved the challenge. Running her fingers along the gray metal, she sighed loudly and moved to her plane, a small ferry machine that she loved as well. Painted along the side was the word 'Maximum', her pilot's signature.

Shifting into the cockpit, she breathed in the comforting, warm air. She'd been dreaming about moments like this her entire life. When most girls dreamed about Prince Charming, she dreamed about planes and soaring above the clouds. Prince Charming was always in the cockpit with her, of course, but at the end of the day, she was the one flying the plane. That dream of flying was what had motivated her to join the WASPs, and even though she'd seen some things that made her skin crawl and been treated bad enough to make her blood boil, she could never regret becoming a WASP.

What she could regret, however, was joining the same squadron as her fat-headed best friends. Staying out of trouble was hard when you were best friends with girls like them.

Ella and Angel blearily arrived, both of them sporting huge yawns and sleep-creased faces.

"I swear, Maxy-girl, this unit better be top-notch, because I did not get up this early to see some ugly fellas." Ella grumbled, sliding into the cockpit of her plane.

"Dolls, dolls, dolls. Would I lie to you?" Max grinned and hopped into her delivery plane, a smaller and easier to fly version of the B-26.

"Wouldn't put it past ya. You'd join the Germans if it'd get us up and flying." Angel called, adjusting her mirror and sliding her door closed.

"C'mon. I'm twisted, but I'm not _that _bad." Max spoke into her headset. "Now, let's head to Tuscaloosa!"

**O_O_O_O_O_O_O**

To say the flight to Tuscaloosa was bad would be a complete understatement.

The weather was horrible, every time they stopped for refills on gas and plane checkups they were treated like criminals, and to top it all off, Max realized that she'd forgotten to make sure Angel and Ella brought their identification with them. All the while, she was paranoid of making one little mistake, because she knew the General would keep his word and make her leave the WASPs. The flight back to the Texas base was better, but not by much.

When they finally touched down in Texas, Angel and Ella practically fell over themselves jumping out of their planes, both of them brimming with eagerness at seeing the 607th unit. Max, however, was dreading the moment. She knew her friends, and if there was anybody even remotely attractive in the unit, they'd turn into a bunch of khaki-wacky bimbos, and if she was going to keep her nose clean, she need a team 100% focused.

She paused, waiting for the telltale signs of Angel and Ella's reaction to the unit: if they were attractive, they'd be softly squealing as they waited; if they were ugly, there'd be quiet groans.

What she heard, surprisingly, was silence.

Hope flaring inside that maybe she'd have a level-headed squadron, she slid out of the cockpit, blinking and fixing her eyes on the advancing squadron.

Her mouth flopped open.

From what she could see, this unit was full of very attractive males. The first three especially were enough to send Ella and Angel into shock.

On the left, there was a small, thin man, practically bouncing up and down, with tousled blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and the name 'The Gasman' embroidered on his jacket. On the right, there was a taller blond, with dark sunglasses on, and a thin body. 'Iggy' was embroidered on his jacket.

And in the middle, there was the one that had Max's heart pumping.

He was a little taller than Iggy, with pale skin and longish dark, dark hair. His eyes were dark as well, as was everything he wore. His face was set in a smolder, his eyes determined and sure. His jacket was slung over his shoulder, but 'Fang' was tattooed on his arm.

"Holy Moley." Max whispered.

"Dolls, I think I might've just hallucinated." Ella breathed. "Just _look_ at 'em."

"They're alright. Nothin' to write home about," Angel said dismissively.

Ella and Max ignored her.

"I call dibs on Iggy." Ella said, never taking her eyes off of him.

"I want the one in the middle." Max smiled slightly.

"And I want to get flying!" Angel said briskly, bounding forward to meet the unit.

"You dolls the 54th WASP squadron?" Iggy called as they neared the girls.

"That's us." Ella beamed. "You gents the 607th?"

"You bet your pennies we are." Iggy grinned. "I'm Iggy," he pointed to himself, "That's Gazzy," he pointed to the smaller man on the left, "And this talkative stud," he smirked and pointed to the man in the middle, "Is none other than Nicky Falloway."

"Fang." Nicky intoned, glaring at Iggy.

Max felt sparks run up her arms at the sound of his deep growly voice. She mentally slapped herself. She was a WASP, not a khaki-wacky squealer. She wasn't Ella or Angel; she was always the one with her head in the game- though her game was sometimes reminiscent of a 'wild child'. She resolved to stay away from Nicky "Fang" Falloway; now more than ever, she needed to keep her head steady.

"I'm Ella. That's Angel," Angel waved as Ella said her name.

"And I'm Maximum." Max finished, crossing her arms.

"Your signature is really Maximum, doll?" Iggy frowned. "That sounds like you're a share-crop or something."

Max flushed. "I am not! I'll have you know I earned that signature by flying the highest."

Iggy smirked. "Is that supposed to have some kind of double meaning?"

"What-I-NO!" Max spluttered, glaring at him. "And what kind of a signature is Iggy? Or Fang? I mean, what'd you do, bite someone?"

Fang raised his eyebrows slightly. "I took down fifteen German planes."

"Oh. Um…" Max bit her lip and looked anywhere but him.

"With a bullet wound in my shoulder."

"Jesus. Well, um, that's enough to earn you any signature you wanted, huh?" Max laughed forcefully, wincing inside.

The corner of Fang's mouth lifted. "And a hell of a scar."

"Oh my lord, is Fang speaking more than then twelve words at a time? And _smiling_?" The Gasman gasped dramatically.

"It's official. I like you dolls." Iggy said solemnly. "But I'd like you so much more if you could show us to the mess hall?"

"Of course!" Ella beamed. "And if you think you like us now, wait till you meet Nudge."

"Nudge?" Gazzy asked thoughtfully.

"Ah. She's another share-crop?" Iggy ducked as Max tried to swat the back of his head.

"He doesn't get better, so you might as well get used to him now." Fang said bluntly.

"Really? And here I was hoping I could trade him in for a newer model." Max fake-sighed.

Fang cracked an actual smile, with teeth and everything, and laughed.

"Are you…laughing? AND smiling?" Gazzy asked in wonder. "You haven't done that since Regredheim and Maya."

Iggy flinched as Fang's smile fell off of his face, and his laugh died away. Speeding up, he soon left the other pilots behind.

"Don't." Iggy muttered to Max as soon as Fang was out of earshot.

"Don't what?"

"Don't get all starry-eyed at Fang. He's heading fast for self-destruct, and he'll take you down with him."

"I'm not-" Max weakly protested.

Iggy cut her off with a knowing glance. "He's not a good guy, Maximum. And you can't fix him."

"I don't want to fix him."

"Leave Fang to himself, Max. I promise, you don't want him."

"That's a fine way to speak about your leader."

Iggy gave her a sideways glance. "He's my best friend, too. And he's too shattered to put back together, Max. He's not getting better anytime soon. Stick with your planes." With that, he moved away and began chattering with Ella.

Max ran a hand through her hair and groaned. Of all the fellas in the world, she had to pick the damaged goods, right at the time when doing _anything_ reckless or rebellious or even slightly interesting could get her sent home. Iggy said Fang was trouble, and trouble was the one thing Max _did not_ need.

Then again, she mused, she'd always been up for a challenge.


End file.
